The complex ingredients that make modern tires safe also make them a pain to ­throw away.

Khodrocar - Every year, the Michelin tire company gathers the smartest minds in transportation for Movin’On, three days of panels, presentations, and people wearing lanyard ID tags. It’s a tire convention—and it’s fascinating. This year, engineers at Michelin showed off a plan to make new tires from 80 percent renewable materials like wood, straw, or beets (seriously).

Each year, automobiles produce 246 million waste tires in the United States alone.

Why does Michelin spend more than $800 million a year researching sustainability so it can make tires out of root vegetables? Because the modern tire—more specifically, its disposal—is a filthy business. Each year, automobiles produce 246 million waste tires in the United States alone. How to reduce that astonishing number is a challenge so pressing that it has created its own industry dedicated to recycling efficiency.

What’s Inside a Tire?

19% Natural rubber, usually from trees in Southeast Asia

38% Synthetic ­rubber (butadiene, styrene, halobutyl rubber) and additives, to prevent damage from ozone and oxygen, and to promote curing